This invention pertains to the field of sub-picosecond optical gating.
There is great interest in producing optical gating devices that are useful in the sub-picosecond range of times for communications applications utilizing light. The techniques presently available require: (1) media having switching rates at least as fast as the gating desired; (2) polarizers or dispersive elements for proper operation and hence, depend on the efficiencies of these elements; and (3) large power densities for control pulses to obtain the desired gating. A further need in this area is to provide spectrally selective optical gating in order to detect signals in the presence of background.